Chapter 18: Sage Mode Complete

At that exact moment, deep within the mountain cave, Mū's real body tensed sharply. He could feel it, something was happening to his clone. The sensation wasn't just ordinary feedback. It was distinct, unfamiliar. There were only two logical explanations: either his clone had come into contact with Sage Chakra... or some unknown, possibly more dangerous energy.

From the memory orb, Mū had learned of Sage Chakra's existence, but he still didn't fully understand what it was supposed to feel like. The energy pulsing from his clone now didn't resemble anything he had encountered before. It was foreign, primal, and powerful.

"Should I give up the clone?"

He hovered there for several long seconds, weighing the cost. If he cut off the connection, the resulting chakra backlash would be severe. It might leave him debilitated for days, possibly longer. But the alternative, if what the clone had touched really was Sage Chakra, was a power too valuable to abandon. Letting it go now could mean missing the chance of a lifetime.

From the brief contact alone, he could already tell this energy was entirely different from standard chakra. It was deeper, more potent, and if he could somehow tame it and make it his own, his strength might ascend to a whole new level.

His eyes hardened.

Damn it, I'm doing this.

Without hesitation, Mū shifted his attention to the clone and began channeling precise chakra control techniques into it, working to stabilize whatever force was overtaking it.

...

The clone's body twisted under the chaotic transformation. Feathers kept bursting out across its skin, first from the arms, then the back, then the chest, only to vanish the next instant. The process repeated endlessly. His form teetered between human and avian, a nightmarish cycle of morphing and regression.

Mū could feel it now. If he allowed this Sage energy to continue uncontrolled, his clone wouldn't just transform. It would become a crow. Permanently.

Without wasting a second, he poured his own chakra into the clone from afar, weaving it in with deliberate control to counter the invasive force. The two energies clashed violently inside the clone's body, one trying to consume, the other resisting with precision.

The internal storm raged, but little by little, the foreign energy began to synchronize with his own. Gradually, instead of battling each other, the two chakra sources started to merge, edging closer to harmony.

Mū gritted his teeth, locking onto the rhythm. His skill in chakra control kicked in. This was his domain, where he excelled beyond nearly anyone else. As he dove deeper into the chaotic tide, he began guiding the energy flow, balancing it until he reached a point of stability.

Then, after what felt like hours compressed into minutes, the clone's eyes snapped open.

In that instant, a wave of chilling, foreign energy swept out from his body. It was Sage energy! But it wasn't gentle. It was eerie and cold, thick with shadows, as though drawn from something ancient and hidden.

Mū looked at his own hands, stunned. He felt altered, stronger, lighter, and more connected to the natural world in a way he couldn't quite describe. His vision sharpened, his thoughts cleared, and every breath seemed to draw in not just air, but pure energy.

This must be Sage Mode. Just like what was described in the memory orb. But even as he adjusted to the sensation, a lingering question gnawed at him.

"What even is this place...? According to the memory orb, there were only three great Sage regions capable of transmitting Sage Mode. This forest wasn't one of them."

He glanced at the stone monument again, the one bearing the name "Sacred Land of the Yatagarasu", and flexed his fingers slowly.

(AN: Yatagarasu is a crow deity much like Tengu in Japanese myth.)

To test his newfound state, he reached out and tapped the air lightly.

Buzz!

A black cube of Dust Style formed instantly in his palm, angular, geometric, and darker than obsidian. The air around it rippled unnaturally.

He stared in disbelief.

"Wait... I'm in the clone's body right now!"

He looked again at the cube of Dust Release hovering in his palm, cold and lethal.

Clones couldn't use Dust Style. That had always been a hard limit.

So what the hell was this?

"Don't tell me I accidentally entered Sage Mode..."

Mū murmured, watching the shift in his chakra flow. A subtle glint lit up his eyes, and a faint smile tugged at the corner of his mouth.

Without delay, he pulled a mirror from a summoning scroll and inspected his reflection. Most of his face remained wrapped in bandages, but the moment he saw his own eyes, all doubt vanished.

His eyes were completely black, pitch black, including the sclera. They were deep, inky, and unnervingly unnatural.

This was it. The "Sage Face" is mentioned in the memory orb. Ryūchi Cave granted vertical reptilian pupils. Mount Myōboku bestowed horizontal toad-like eyes. But his... his were pools of darkness, as if filled with black ink. Given the nature of his contract, it made perfect sense. A crow-based Sage Mode.

"Amazing~! My sensory range has expanded several times. My stamina, speed, and strength are all massively enhanced. No wonder the protagonist, Naruto, relied so heavily on Sage Mode. Even Madara later sought out Hashirama's Sage powers."

He could hardly believe the magnitude of the transformation. Everything, from his reflexes to his internal chakra network, felt like it had been reforged. But he wasn't just here to marvel. He needed to test the practical side: how Sage Mode affected his ninjutsu.

Dust Style had always been his trump card. It was one of the deadliest techniques among Kage-level shinobi, capable of erasing anything in its path. But it had a fatal weakness, its charge time.

The moment that telltale formation appeared in his hands, any sharp opponent would try to dodge or absorb the technique before it launched. What he wanted now wasn't more power. It was speed. If Sage Mode could shorten the casting delay, that would make the jutsu far more lethal in real combat.

His eyes narrowed.

"Sage Art: Dust Release-Detachment of the Primitive World Technique!"

A dense surge of Sage Chakra poured into his hands. He could feel the power gathering, tightly controlled, compacted far faster than before. Under normal conditions, the jutsu would require a lengthy build-up. But now, thanks to Sage Mode's immense boost, the entire formation compressed in just one second.

The air around him vibrated with a sharp hum.

Then, flash.

A burst of black light tore through the clearing, brief but blinding. The light vanished just as quickly as it appeared.

Then came the impact.

A deep, echoing roar split the forest as the ground shattered open. The earth split like cracked stone, dust and debris blasted skyward, and smoke clouded the entire region. When it finally cleared, Mū stood at the center of the devastation, gazing down at a perfectly carved square crater. The surface inside was smooth as glass, as if cut with a god's precision.

"The power's increased... now, how about long range?"

He didn't stop there.

"Sage Arts Dust Release-Boundary Annihilation Technique!"

His chakra surged again, this time tuned for ranged execution. His Dust Style could shift depending on how he formed it. The close-range form was shaped like a cube, ideal for sudden bursts. The long-range variation, however, manifested as a cylindrical beam that could travel enormous distances.

But there was a catch.

Long-range Dust Style was difficult to land unless the target was enormous or stationary. For someone like the Raikage, who moved with lightning speed, the odds of hitting were almost zero.

Still, Mū wasn't trying to hit anything right now. He simply wanted to measure the jutsu's output.

As the cylinder took shape and launched across the terrain, it cut through the forest like a divine blade, disintegrating trees, earth, and everything in its path. It moved fast, far faster than before.

Even without striking a target, the damage was staggering.

"Definitely stronger... and faster," Mū muttered, eyes following the still-fading trail of destruction. His heart beat faster, not from exhaustion, but from exhilaration. He had only just begun tapping into what this power could do.

Once again, Mū clapped his hands together, forming a pitch-black cylindrical construct of Dust Release. He swung his arm forward, launching the attack across the barren landscape.

The beam surged out like a lance of destruction. Wherever it passed, the terrain was obliterated. Solid stone disintegrated into fine powder in a fraction of a second, turned to dust without resistance.

"Hahaha... hehehe..." Mū hovered midair, holding the beam with one hand like a divine spear. He couldn't hold back his laughter as the raw, devastating force rippled beneath him.

Buzz!

Without warning, the glow faded from his eyes. His vision dimmed slightly as the sensation of Sage Chakra vanished.

"Sage Mode only lasts about three minutes?" he muttered, descending slowly to the ground.

He mentally retraced everything. From the moment of activation to the final burnout, it had lasted just under three minutes. It wasn't a long window, but it was more than enough for a high-impact engagement.

"But I could just use the same trick Naruto used. Using shadow clones or my own body-splitting technique to reset the timer."

His mind immediately jumped to a solution. By distributing the burden of natural energy absorption across clones, he could extend the duration of Sage Mode. If timed correctly, it could be maintained in a loop.

Caw caw caw!

Just then, the three-legged crow returned, wings flapping softly as it descended and perched on his shoulder.

Mū turned his head slightly. "It's you. Thanks. I didn't realize you were trying to lead me to a Sage inheritance... but why me?"

He examined the crow, a hint of suspicion in his tone. Yet the creature didn't reply. Instead, it slowly opened its beak.

Caw!

A black scroll dropped to the ground.

Mū bent down and picked it up, inspecting the parchment. His eyes flicked over the symbols etched into it. "You want to become my summoning beast?"

The crow offered no answer, but its silence said everything. Mū raised a brow in surprise. So there really was such a thing as free power.

Without delay, he signed the scroll and performed the hand seals to complete the contract.

The moment the pact was sealed, information surged into his mind. It wasn't just basic summoning instructions. It was history, ancient, mythological, and profound.

That's when he realized the truth.

This crow was no ordinary creature.

It was the legendary Yatagarasu, the three-legged crow of myth, said to exist at the border between life and death. Wherever death cast its shadow, the Yatagarasu would remain, eternal and indestructible. It didn't follow the natural rules of mortality. Its existence was tied to the concept of death itself.

Even more shocking was its lineage. The Yatagarasu had been the keeper of divine artifacts, tools of unmatched power that hadn't surfaced in centuries.

Caw caw caw~

The bird flapped its wings once.

Three glowing relics floated into the air above the scroll: a mirror, a blade, and a set of shimmering magatama.

Mū's eyes widened.

"The Yata Mirror, the Totsuka Blade, and the Yasaka Magatama!"

He stared at them in stunned disbelief. These were no mere chakra constructs. They were the mythical treasures, artifacts that had been used by one of the strongest Uchiha in the memory orb.

"Itachi..."

Mu narrowed his eyes.

Now the pieces clicked. Itachi had always used crows in his genjutsu. His Susanoo wielded the Totsuka Blade and bore the Yata Mirror. But what if those weapons hadn't originated from his Mangekyō at all?

"What if they came from you..." Mū murmured, looking at the crow perched calmly on his shoulder.

He narrowed his eyes. "Don't tell me I just hijacked the source of Itachi's god-tier items."

That would explain everything. The origin of the tools, the connection to crows, and why they'd seemed so mysterious even in the memory orb.

Then came a new thought.

Wait. If I have the Yatagarasu now... does that mean Itachi won't get these weapons in the future?

He blinked once.

"Eh, whatever," he said with a shrug. "Even if Itachi had them, it would've been a waste."

A smirk curved his lips.

"That chronically ill guy could barely use his own body, let alone divine tools. The Totsuka Blade and Yata Mirror... they're wasted on someone like that."

He glanced down at the artifacts, his hands itching to test them.

"Itachi, you were too fragile. Those weapons are mine now. I will make good use of them… against your own village."

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